FY24 December Bi-Monthly

Daniel Gale has been in school finance since 2008 and has worked in Worcester, Clinton, Grafton, and now Hudson.  He graduated from Bucknell University with a major in Business Mgmt and from Clark University with a Master in Public Administration, and also completed the MASBO licensure program.  Daniel is currently on the Board of Directors of MASBO.  He enjoys professional development and collaborating with colleagues.  When not in the office, he enjoys playing all sports, especially golf, with friends and with his son.

Michael Knight, MBA is the School Business Administrator Greater Lowell Regional Vocational Technical School District. Michael has worked in the field of school business for 6 years and was credited with implementing cost saving strategies saving over $400,000 annually in his previous school district, Groton-Dunstable Regional. Previous to working in school business Michael worked in technology and construction sales.

Michael’s goal serving as a board member would be to help foster an environment of continuous learning and thought share within MASBO. The greatest strength MASBO has is the membership, there are millions of hours of experience collectively held by the MASBO membership and finding ways to share and memorialize the lessons learned from this experience would be his top priority.

When not crunching budget numbers, Michael enjoys playing golf, hiking with his dog, and watching sports.   

Rob proudly serves as the Director of the Office for Food and Nutrition Programs at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In this capacity for the past 7 years, he has overseen the administration of 12 USDA Child Nutrition and Food Distribution Programs in Massachusetts. Before working at the Department, Rob worked in the field of education policy and school finance, first for the Massachusetts State Legislature and later for Massachusetts’ Governor Deval Patrick in the Office of the Special Advisor on Education. Rob previously served on the Institute of Child Nutrition’s National Advisory Council and currently serves as the Northeast Representative on the School Nutrition Association’s State Agency Advisory Council. At the state level, Rob serves on the Massachusetts Food Policy Council, in addition to the inter-agency Food Security Leadership Working Group. Rob is inspired by mission-driven work, creating positive impact and, above all else, he is inspired by the selfless work of program operators across the Commonwealth.

Once graduating college I taught High School math in a private special education school in the Boston area. During this time I piloted technology tools to best meet the needs of students. This led me to receive my Masters degree in Curriculum and Technology. After teaching I worked for JFYNet, a Boston non-profit for 8 years where I was in 40+ school districts around CT, MA, RI, DC developing technology based custom education programs for students to prepare for various tests as well as credit recovery. Following JFYNet I spent 9 years in the Medway Public Schools as a technology integration specialist and finally then landed as the Director of Digital Learning and Technology in Millis where I have completed my first full year.

Rob O’Donnell is the Director of School Finance at DESE. The unit that he oversees is responsible for the Chapter 70 program, charter tuition and reimbursement calculations, school choice, the End of Year Report data collection, and the development of related data reports.

Jay Sullivan is the Associate Commissioner for District & School Finance in the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. In this capacity, he directs the Offices of School Finance, School Business and Regional Governance. He also oversees a variety of financial programs, including Special Education Circuit Breaker, School accounting, End of Year Financial Reporting and Auditing, Transportation, as well as federal compliance issues relative to maintenance of effort requirements and the calculation of district’s indirect cost rates. Jay has worked for the Department for over 43 years as an auditor, administrator and business manager.

Margaret Raymond Driscoll is MASBO's Executive Director and was previously its Professional Development Coordinator. She started her career in private industry and then volunteered her time at her childrens' elementary school, overseeing the development and implementation of a new library media center and managing it for nine years. Margaret is in her 15th year as a Melrose School Committee member.